Mayurbhanj: It's October, the time of the year when spirits of celebration reach feverish pitch with every corner of the State witnessing brisk preparations for the festive season coming thick and fast.
But it seems that people would love to count 2020 as better a year to forget, thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic, months of lockdown and shutdown restrictions resulting in unending miseries.
Idol makers particularly have borne the brunt of the pandemic during the festive season, their once-a-year opportunity to earn profits. With Odisha government continuing on with its restrictions on religious gathering, the crisis has cast clouds of uncertainty over the celebrations of one of the largest cultural and religious carnivals that begins this month.
The centuries-old artisans' hub in Udala town of Mayurbhanj district is now wearing a deserted look. With hardly any income for almost six months now, it has become very difficult for the idol makers to run their families.
During festive season, artisans usually get busy attending orders to make earthen idols for different festivals but due to restrictions, demands for idols have shrunken deeply this time around leaving little or no work for them.
Pradip Dinda who earns a living by making idols is currently struggling to survive. He says that making profit is “out of the question” at the moment, but is rather barely looking to make ends meet.
Talking to OTV Pradip said, “From Ganesh Puja, Vishwakarma to Durga Puja, this used to be the season we were dependent on income for the rest of the year. But getting very few orders has made this year extremely tough for us. As far as cost is concerned, we are not even reaching our breakeven.”
Another idol maker Ramakrushna Bindhani said, “We are getting orders of mostly small sized idols where the profit margin is minimal. We had no other option but to ask the helper artists to stay back.”
Not only idol makers, the pandemic has also taken a toll on the livelihood of those associated with supplying raw materials such as clay, bamboo and hay.
(Edited By: Suryakant Jena)
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